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No. 5 Stanford Returns Home to Face Washington State

STANFORD STATS...Stanford has started the season with a 9-2 overall mark with a 1-1 record in Pac-10 play. Stanford owns the No. 5 ranking in the Associated Press poll and the No. 6 ranking in the USA Today/Coaches' poll. This will only be Stanford's second game of the year at Maples Pavilion, after the $30 million renovations were completed, the Cardinal opened against Pepperdine but then hit the road for five-straight road games.

CARDINAL CATALOGUE...Three Cardinal players are scoring in double digits and nine are playing double-digit minutes. Through games on Dec. 20, Stanford is ranked in the top-25 nationally in scoring offense, but the Cardinal is also proving itself on the defensive end of the floor, with the third-best scoring defense and seventh-best scoring margin in the nation. Through its first eight games, the Cardinal is also ranked No. 8 in the country in turnovers and No. 18 in field goal defense, holding opponents to less than 35% shooting.

WASHINGTON STATE BULLETS...* Washington State dropped its Pac-10 opener to Arizona State and then dropped a three-point decision to Arizona.* This is the Cougars first road game since they defeated San Diego State 55-50 on Dec. 11.* Kate Benz leads the squad with 11.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

THE STANFORD-WSU SERIES...This will be the 39th match-up between Stanford and Washington State. The Cardinal has won all-38 meetings in the series (by an average of 22.1 points per game). Only six games have been decided by fewer than 10 points, most recently on Feb. 22, 2001, when the Cardinal posted a nine-point victory. The largest Stanford win was a 47-point victory on Jan. 17, 2002.

STANFORD VS. THE PAC-10...The Cardinal owns an overall record of 305-101 (.751) against current Pac-10 foes and a 275-51 (.844) record in regular season conference action, the best percentage in the league. Stanford has played in the Championship Game of the Pac-10 Tournament in each of the three years it has been played. The Cardinal has won the tournament title twice (2002 and 2004) and leads the Pac-10 with 13 regular season conference crowns (Washington ranks second with three Pac-10 titles).

WSU VS. THE PAC-10...The Cougars are 110-292 (.274) all-time against current Pac-10 foes. In regular season play, Washington State ranks tenth in the conference with 86 wins in 18 years of Pac-10 action. The Cougars have never finished higher than fourth in the conference (1990-91) and have finished last in the Pac-10 in each of the last three seasons.

DEPTH PERCEPTION...One key for the Cardinal this season is depth. With 15 healthy players on the active roster, nine are averaging at least 11 minutes per game and none are averaging more than 30 minutes per game.

PAC-10 PRIDE...With the 83-45 win over Oregon State on Monday night, Stanford has won its conference opener in 16 of the last 19 seasons, including the last five years. Stanford has been even stronger in its conference home opener, posting a perfect 18-0 record in its first Pac-10 home game of the season.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME...Stanford owns an impressive 333-75 (.816) record at Maples Pavilion, including a 30-2 record over the last three years. Tara VanDerveer's teams have compiled a 250-28 (.899) record at home* during her tenure and have posted six perfect seasons at Maples. Stanford has won 46 of its last 49 games at Maples.*Home record includes this season's games at the Leavey Center.

SEEING DOUBLE...Senior forward Sebnem Kimyacioglu recorded the first double-double of the season by a Cardinal player when she posted 10 points and 10 assists at Oregon State. The 10 assists bested her previous best of nine and it was the first double-double of Kimyacioglu's career.

STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT...Stanford's 21 steals against Eastern Washington at the Great Alaska Shootout was the third-best single game total in school history. Freshman guard Candice Wiggins led the way with five steals as nine different Cardinal players recorded at least one steal in the contest. Then on Dec. 10, the Cardinal posted 20 steals versus Pepperdine, with Wiggins taking the ball six times. In its first 10 games, the Cardinal is out-stealing its opponents 126-76.

VANDERVEER'S VICTORIES...Head coach Tara VanDerveer recorded her 600th career win last season, as the Cardinal defeated Missouri, 68-44, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. She won her 450th game as Stanford's head coach against Vanderbilt (57-55) in the Sweet 16 last March. Her overall record now stands at 611-170 (.782) in 25+ years, while her record at Stanford is 459-119 (.794) in 18+ years.

BORCHARDT BOOK...Stanford's lone fifth-year senior, Susan King Borchardt, saw the court for the first time this season at Oregon State. She suffered a stress reaction right before the season began, but made her debut with five minutes against the Beavers. Borchardt scored two points, connecting on her first shot of the year.

SUMINSKI STORY...Kelley Suminski, a preseason Wooden Award candidate, a preseason Naismith Award candidate and a Senior CLASS nominee, has started 104 games during her four years at Stanford. She owns the No. 8 ranking in school history with 163 three-pointers in her career. Suminski's 141st three-pointer boosted her into the top-10, but is even more special because she hit it with 0.3 seconds left in the Sweet 16 match-up versus Vanderbilt last March to help the Cardinal advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1997. She became the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 points when she hit her first bucket of the game against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Great Alaska Shootout.

WIGGINS WIRE...Freshman guard Candice Wiggins leads the Cardinal in scoring with 15.6 points per game and is also leading the team in steals with 34 this season. Candice's late father, Alan, also had a knack for steals - in 1984 he helped the San Diego Padres to the World Series and set the club's single-season record with 70 stolen bases (besting his own record of 66 from the year before). Alan Wiggins ranks third all-time in Padres history with 171 stolen bases in his career.

STANFORD VS. RANKED OPPONENTS...The Cardinal's match-up with No. 9 Tennessee was the second game versus a ranked opponent this season. With the win over Texas Tech and the loss at Tennessee, the Cardinal is 1-1 over ranked opponents this season. Last year, Stanford went 3-3 versus ranked foes.

RANKINGS REPORT...With a 9-2 mark to start the 2004-05 season, the Cardinal is currently ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll. Stanford has been ranked as high as No. 2 this season, the Cardinal's highest ranking since both polls ranked Stanford No. 2 in the 2001-02 season. This season, Stanford has been in the top-10 for the entire season and has been in the top-5 since defeating Texas Tech on Nov. 28.

SENIOR SALUTE...Stanford's five seniors have helped the Cardinal to a 95-17 record since arriving on The Farm. As freshmen in 2001-02, the squad advanced to the Sweet 16, and as juniors last season, they helped the team make it to the Elite Eight (not including Susan King Borchardt's true freshman year).